After almost three weeks at EtamGroep in Zoetermeer everyone is probably wondering how I am doing there. Being a CFO in fashion. Being a man in a company where 90% of the employees are women. Working with a female CEO. Questions that were asked already a few months ago, but could not be answered then. I will try to give some first impressions.
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Of course we all know that if one controls the media he can control the history. It was George Orwell with his book 1984 that taught us that you can control the past if you would be able to replace all the information that you did not like by the information that suits you right. He could not foresee the influence of the mass media in later years.
When a CFO and a CEO leave a media company at the same time, it is no rocket science that all the media want to know what is going on. Of course the fact that both left the company is true and also that they did that short after each other. But that does not mean that is has anything to do with the company, its Supervisory Board or Shareholders.
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We know that the Chinese are having the same strategy as the Japanese: better copy it right than to fail on an original. But the Japanese maybe did copy (mainly) electronics some 40 years ago, but now they provide the world’s leading brands. And they did not make exact copies. They embraced the ideas and put some Japanese sauce over it and tried to sell it much cheaper than the equivalents that dominated the market. China is doing it another way. They are making exact copies of everything you can imagine and sell it to the world. And of course for much lower prices. Internet is of great help for the Chinese.
If you have a look at www.dhgate.com or www.dealextreme.com you will find out that these sites are not aiming at individuals, but that they are looking for small companies to sell (in huge quantities) all kind of products. Those little companies can then sell the goods on their home market below the market price and still making profit. But is it legal? (more…)
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In Dutch you would translate this into “Maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen”. Every company is aware of this. Even in these difficult times. Sometimes companies try to solve problems and/or discussions about claims they (think to) have on each other by proposing the difference in money (or a part of that) to be tansferred to charity. I am always wondering whether the “winning” side or the “losing” side makes the first proposal. I think it is the “losing” side. But nevertheless, all charity would of course not care what the story is behind the gift, they appreciate every gift, no matter how small or how big it is. And not just companies, individuals feel the need for CSR also. More and more you read in LinkedIn summaries about the charities that particular persons are involved with. (more…)
Today, the CEO of Etam Groep, Beatrice Macdonald, made the following announcement:
Dear colleagues,
I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Peter van Dongen as our new CFO and Director ERS.
Peter starts on the 1st of August 2009, and will report into me.
Peter is a chartered accountant (CPA), with twelve years experience in public accounting with (a predecessor of) a ‘Big Four’ firm and 17 years in finance management, 9 of which as CFO with a family owned company (Audax B.V.), similar in turnover to Etam Groep, but which includes both retail (AKO, 103 stores) and wholesale companies. Audax operates a complex, high-risk supply chain, recognised as state of the art in today’s market. Besides Finance, Peter has been responsible for IT management and for the implementation of large IT and Logistics projects such as SAP.
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